Engineering firm Witteveen+Bos: top athletes also undergo regular check-ups

The HPO Center talks to Harry Webers, General Director of the Witteveen+Bos engineering and consultancy firm

Consultancy is like a top-class sport. Just because a world-class skater or cyclist is in good shape does not mean they cannot perform even better. Top athletes also need regular check-ups with a sports doctor, who gives them condition tests, checks their vitals and examines their training schedule. We also make sure Witteveen+Bos undergoes regular check-ups by an external party to determine where improvements can be made.

“We recognized ourselves clearly in the analysis”

We were familiar with various articles by André de Waal in the management literature and this prompted us have the HPO Center take a closer look at Witteveen+Bos. In 2008, the HPO Center carried out an online HPO diagnosis among our thirty top managers. The HPO Center has considerable experience with numbers and statistics and we clearly recognized Witteveen+Bos in the analysis and the results.

As a consultancy and engineering firm, we deal with figures on a daily basis, which reflect both our firm and our performance. We scored relatively high, but not an 8.5 or higher for all relevant parameters. One year later, we had a survey conducted among one hundred employees in order to delve more deeply into the previous analysis. But the results were more or less the same.

“You get results quickly”

The HPO Center has developed a fast research and analysis method. In the past, we had other companies conduct these kinds of measurements for us occasionally, but this required a two-hour questionnaire. Not many people have the time or interest in answering all of those questions. The online HPO diagnosis from the HPO Center can be completed in only fifteen minutes, not to mention the fact that you get the results quickly afterwards.

The last analysis conducted by the HPO Center was accompanied by recommendations on a number of dilemmas we were facing. What will the future bring? And should we focus on growth, consolidation or perhaps shrinkage? Various working groups within Witteveen+Bos are currently hard at work examining these issues.

I have various side jobs in the art & culture, education and healthcare sectors. I often suggest to these organizations that they have an HPO diagnosis carried out by the HPO Center. Like top athletes, the various organizations can use the analysis to take their training one step further and enhance their performance.